HOCKEY

HOCKEY; Collapsed Lung Will Keep Lindros Off the Ice for Flyers

By TARIK EL-BASHIR

Published: April 3, 1999

The Philadelphia Flyers suffered a serious blow to their Stanley Cup aspirations yesterday. Eric Lindros, who may be the most dominant player in the National Hockey League, will miss the remainder of the regular season with a collapsed right lung.

Lindros, the league's third-leading scorer with 40 goals and 53 assists, was injured during the Flyers' 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night. He went to Baptist Hospital in Nashville yesterday after complaining of chest pains and will remain there at least two days before returning to Philadelphia.

''This is a serious injury,'' Bob Clarke, the Flyers' president and general manager, said. ''We won't be playing him until all the doctors feel that he's fine.''

The 26-year-old Lindros, returning from a two-game suspension for cutting the Rangers' Petr Nedved with a high stick last Saturday, delivered and received several hard checks against the Predators on Thursday. Video replays showed him fall on his stick in the first period.

The Flyers' captain played the entire game, talked with reporters in the locker room afterward and even went out for dinner.

His teammates said yesterday that he did not appear to be in pain after the game.

''He had a chest injury that caused a collapse of his right lung, and in the area in the chest where the lung is missing, blood has filled that space,'' Dr. Gary Dorshimer, the Flyers' team physician, said.

''The doctors have said so far about three liters of blood are in there. The average chest would hold, if you took the lung out and put fluid in there, between three and five liters of blood.''

Dorshimer added: ''From what we heard, he was checked on the ribs on the right side. He either sustained a rib fracture, which so far the X-rays have not shown, or it was enough sudden impact trauma that it caused a small microtear in the lung that probably through the night and into the morning caused the lung to collapse fully and for blood to fill the space.''

Doctors have inserted a vacuum tube between Lindros's ribs and into the lung to re-expand it. The procedure is very uncomfortable, Dorshimer said. The next few days should determine if Lindros will return in time for the playoffs. The regular season ends April 18.

''We need him bad out there,'' Mikael Renberg, a Flyers wing, said.

Forward Keith Jones added: ''It would be easy to say it's not our year and throw our sticks out on the ice and expect to lose. I think we're capable of getting through this.''

The Flyers are also missing John LeClair (sore back), their second-leading scorer (85 points), and Eric Desjardins (knee), their best defenseman. Mark Recchi, their fourth-leading scorer, is returning from a concussion.

The Flyers (34-23-18), a preseason favorite to dominate the Eastern Conference, are tied for the fourth-best record in the conference. The top eight teams from each conference qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

But the team hit a rut in February, and now, with the injuries to Lindros, LeClair and Desjardins, the team's chances of finishing strong over the final seven regular-season games, and then going deep into the Stanley Cup playoffs, seem remote.

The Flyers play the Bruins, the eighth-place team in the conference, today and will host the Rangers on Monday night.

Photo: Eric Lindros, the Flyers' captain, will miss at least the rest of the regular season. (Associated Press)